J. D. Vance's book Hillbilly Elegy is a composition written to highlight the culture and diversity of Appalachian People and how that uniqueness is being devalued in today's society. Vance tells the narrative of compassionate, yet rebellious, underclass folks who became accountable for change and maybe making the civilization in which they live great again. He is particularly interested in the election of an underdog to the country's highest political office. On the topic of class disenfranchisement, Vance has used his personal life experience to explain how the underclass has awakened to claim their rights, especially the chance to elect their leaders in a democratic way. He has managed to show with his many “hillbilly” illustrations, an appeal to both Democrats and Republicans. In this paper, there will be an analysis into Vance’s examination to determine if his thoughts of class disenfranchisement are valid, while also examining his many uses of “Hillbillies” in this political narrative.
Vance uses his life experiences in extreme eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio to shed light on how the working poor in this country are being downtrodden to the point where many people give up trying and accept a fate that is only theirs because they believe it to be true. This is a clear manifestation of class disenfranchisement which Vance has brought into this discussion by using the metaphor of the “hillbilly.” He has brought it into perspective by relating how the modern-day underclass working people have come together to demand for their rights, better working conditions, and better leaders.
The first question we need to ask ourselves in this discourse is who are the underclass? Hillbillies are white men, women and children who for the most part are of Scots-Irish ancestry (Vance 3). A researcher in American anthropology, Razib Khan commented about the Scots-Irish saying, “In traveling across America, the Scots-Irish have consistently blown my mind as far and away the most persistent and unchanging regional subculture in the country” (qtd. in Vance, 2016, p. 3). This is a view which is certainly held by Vance as well. He points out in his book that he identifies with the Appalachian region as long occupied by the white underclass. Vance identifies himself growing up as a Hillbilly as he writes his experience to demonstrate how he develops his thoughts.
While explaining the involvement of family members in this thought of class disenfranchisement, Vance identifies with the variety of character traits displayed in his uncles. He says that he loved the Blanton men. Vance’s recollections of his uncles are a storied collection of memories ranging from abject fear to warm embraces. He remembers an uncle named Pet who he at first describes as “the nicest of the Blanton men” (Vance 14) but also as having a severe temper which he had no problem using against anyone who crossed him or the family. Uncle Pet had once run afoul of a particularly nasty truck driver bringing goods to his store named “Big Red” who had insulted Uncle Pet and his family by telling him, “Off-load this now, you son of a bitch.” (Vance 14). Uncle Pet asked the man politely not to use that kind of language when talking about his mother to which Big Red repeated the insult. After this second insult, Vance says “Uncle Pet did what any rational business owner would do: He pulled the man from his truck, beat him unconscious, and ran an electric saw up and down his body. Big Red nearly bled to death but was rushed to the hospital and survived.” (Vance 14). Vance also had a long-haired, free thinking, pot smoking uncle named David, probably a product of the 1960’s counterculture, and the youngest of his uncles, Gary, who Vance noted was, “the only Blanton brother not to threaten me with a kick in the ass or a detached ear” (Vance 16).
In addition to providing a familial description, Vance presents the living condition of the Hillbilly in a very Appalachian way. He identifies the surrounding to be a beautiful but the beauty is obscured by trash and discarded items that are scattered all over. The people of the Hillbilly society are hardworking but do this work in a degrading environment. All hillbillies are encouraged to show interest in working but many do not because they have given up and have lost hope after years of disappointing economic news. Vance identified the fact that Hillbillies could disenfranchise themselves to rise above the thoughts of hopelessness and become a workforce of note in society by applying honest efforts in their areas of interest, however, most do not take advantage of the opportunities presented to them, preferring to blame the system and complain about what the system had done to them.
Even though the people work hard in a less than desirable environment, hillbillies are often portrayed as languishing in poverty with no desire to improve themselves. Although the latest system of reforms by the federal government is likely to bring significant change for the people of Appalachia, there are some hindrances. The people of the Appalachian region tend to be staunchly conservative fiercely defending their First and Second Amendment rights. Their rigid take on the politics makes it hard to bring about substantial change for them. Increased money, better institutions and improved policies ought to have an impact but because of the social degradation the poor white middle-class feels, these solutions have had little impact. Living mostly in underdeveloped areas, the residents have been socially degraded and have, as such, relied primarily on their own support systems, unwilling to accept external influences. As a result, the people are left behind lagging behind the rest of American society to languish in poverty. All in all, it is for the people to decide to change their minds and allow more outside assistance to flow into their communities.
In a real sense, Vance wrote this book to show the dissatisfaction that exists now with the hillbillies who we have identified to be the white Scots-Irish working class. Perhaps Vance is trying to show his disgust with current trends in society. That could explain his penchant to motivate whites to stand up for what they believe in their hearts and make America great again. It is no coincidence then that in the very year he published his book Donald J Trump wins the Presidency carrying his message of “Make America Great Again!” This seems to be a clear manifestation of how the underclass has stood up to be recognized. Vance believed this needed to happen to ensure progress and reshaping the economy of the society.
In stark contrast to the positive message that Vance is trying to get across with his book, about how the hillbillies are just normal Americans struggling in a set of circumstances not of their own making, the media seems hellbent on pointing out the fact that President Trump rode the wave of discontentment shown by the hillbillies all the way to the White House. For example, Hari Kunzru, writing in The Guardian in December 2016 an article named “Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance review – does this memoir really explain Trump’s victory?” in which he describes the divide between the classes of white America between the “coastal elites” (or the WASPs as Vance describes them) and the “white working class” (which Vance terms hillbillies) in terms of the divide between the different sects of the Islamic faith of Sunni and Shia. Making such a comparison seems to add unnecessary rhetoric to the situation for political gain. However, writers such as Alec MacGillis, make the same point from a different perspective that Vance is trying to make. MacGillis points out that the Democratic party, once known as the party of the people, the one thing that gave the party “virtue and integrity” has recently lost touch with its base making them the party of the “unmoored” because they have no base now to anchor themselves to as they did in the past. MacGillis goes on to note that Vance is wrong in one major point he is trying to make, that the “people” (those who Vance calls hillbillies) are largely responsible for fate because they have given up. MacGillis takes a middle of the road position on the subject putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of government and big business by stating that:
“The government and corporations welcomed China into the World Trade Organization; more and more economists now believe that move hastened the erosion of American manufacturing, by encouraging U.S. companies to shift operations offshore. The government and corporations each did their part to weaken organized labor, which once boosted wages and strengthened the social fabric in places like Middletown (Vance’s adopted hometown in Ohio) (MacGillis).
It is clear from this statement that MacGillis position falls into a more centrist zone as he blames not only the government for supporting welfare and other social programs but also to big business who welcomed China into the international trading arena which had the effect of sucking the life out of American manufacturing and industry by forcing corporations to relocate overseas to stay profitable.
Contrasting both of these opinions, Jennifer Senior writing for the New York Times recently penned an article entitled “Review: In ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ a Tough Love Analysis of the Poor Who Back Trump” in which she gives an honest review of Vance’s book and the points which he was trying to make by writing it. Instead of attacking the hillbillies for their support of Trump in the last election, Senior points out that Vance was right and goes on to comment: “Economic insecurity, he’s convinced, accounts for only a small part of his community’s problems; the much larger issue is hillbilly culture itself. Though proud of it in many ways, he’s also convinced that it “increasingly encourages social decay instead of counteracting it.”
Rounding out the commentators on Vance’s work is Helen Lewis, writing for The New Statesman in October 2016, just before Donald Trump’s victory in the November Presidential election. Lewis notes that Vance’s two main objectives in writing Hillbilly Elegy were to strengthen families and to the shine a spotlight on the “learned helplessness” of the people who he grew up around who were perfectly happy to blame everyone else but themselves for the problems they faced. Lewis points out that Trump “vindicates these feelings of victimhood and offers a revenge fantasy” which is an idea often on the minds of Vance’s hillbillies. She further notes that Vance relates in his book that his family “strongly believed that any insult should be answered with violence” and that because of this fact “Trump, who lashes out when criticized, seems more authentic than cool, cerebral figures such as Barack Obama” (Lewis). Lewis makes one very prophetic statement when she says “If Trump wins, it will be by appealing to disillusioned white folk such as the hillbillies – the one group, Vance argues, that everyone feels OK about looking down on” which is exactly what Trump seems to have done and it blindsided rich white America and the Democratic Party with a resounding defeat of the predisposed first female President of the United States.
In conclusion, Vance has used the illustration of Hillbillies to show that even using the most unprecedented and unconventional wisdom, change can occur. He motivated the disenfranchisement of the white working underclass by telling them of the possibilities that can occur when they stand up for themselves and make their wills known. In contrast to the views that have been set in stone for years in the white working class poor communities of Appalachia, Vance has brought forth his notion that a combination of perseverance and a hand up instead of a handout, is the way to lead the untold millions suffering in poverty in Appalachia to a better life. In view of this, the hillbillies which Vance proudly counts himself among are now set to become enlightened and start to live in a better society. Generally, Hillbilly Elegy is a book well worth reading as it presents the paradox of our times.
Works Cited
Kunzru, Hari. "Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance Review – Does This Memoir Really Explain Trump’s Victory?" The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/07/hillbilly-elegy-by-jd-vance-review. Accessed May 9, 2017.
Lewis, Helen. "Hillbillies at the Ballot Box." New Statesman, vol. 145, no. 5335, 07 Oct. 2016, p. 17. EBSCOhost, Accessed May 9, 2017.
MacGillis, Alec and Propublica. "The Despair of Poor White Americans." The Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/the-original-underclass/492731/. Accessed May 9, 2017.
Senior, Jennifer. "Review: In Hillbilly Elegy, a Tough Love Analysis of the Poor Who Back Trump - The New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/books/review-in-hillbilly-elegy-a-compassionate-analysis-of-the-poor-who-love-trump.html. Accessed May 9, 2017.
Vance, J. D. Hillbilly elegy: A memoir of a family and culture in crisis. HarperCollins 2016.
